America has failed elections. Another piece of evidence is the talk of overturning Trump’s election.

Overturning Trump’s election

I see three ways to peacefully overturn the election of Donald Trump.

1. The votes in three swing states are being recounted. There’s a slim chance they’ll find voter fraud. There’s a slimmer chance they’ll simply find inaccurate counting. If the results change, Hillary could win.
2. Enough electors in the electoral college could deem Trump unfit that they vote instead for Hillary. Some arguments maintain that no electors are required to vote for Trump. Below, we’ll see why.
3. The Republican Congress could impeach him. There are many charges they could level. A potent one could be his conflicts of interest.

All of these could result in peaceful transfer of power. Though there would be some upset citizens, all of these are legal methods. None are “trickery,” though that would likely be a common accusation.

Our failed elections

Our primitive party system was never designed. It evolved. We struggle under its burden as if we can do nothing about it. Actually, it’s only our own lack of ability to organize and communicate that makes us powerless.

Similarly, or system of primaries has failed. In some states they’re open, in other states they’re closed, locking out independent voters. And while most voters want one or more new parties, third parties are almost entirely locked out.

The presidential election system also has failed. The electoral college idea was never updated. It was never redesigned for our modern world.

1. The electoral college was needed until the last few decades. Elections were slow, expensive, manual processes. And until the 1890’s, the postal service didn’t even deliver to small towns. In the case of the vote not choosing a president, the electors would be together and could choose.

Some founders had two other reasons:

2. They wanted to give small states more power. The smallest states have only one representative in Congress. But they have two senators, the same number as the largest states. Every state also gets the same number of electors as representatives, plus two more. This imbalance was designed in.

3. They wanted an obstacle to tyrants. Quoting the above article: “They feared a tyrant could manipulate public opinion and come to power”.

To many, this is exactly what happened in 2016. To many, Trump is a liar and manipulator and has neither the judgement nor the temperament to serve America. Obviously, many think he’s best-qualified, too. But our country is designed to let the electoral college decide, given the way the people voted, who would should be president?

After the presidency, then what?

Personally, I’m hoping the electoral college recognizes the failed elections. I’m hoping they elect neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton. Since Congress is Republican, I suggest Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. Jill Stein’s a remote possibility. Another possibility is to choose a centrist member of Congress.

But the real question is, what’s next? Should we fix our election system so it produces better choices? There are many ways of doing this, but it’ll take commissioning a new task force, and working with the many groups who are already working on this.

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